Shadow Dragon
by scarlet-angle-13
Summary: Meet Rekai, the eldest shadow dragon slayer. Join her on her adventures and through chaos and life in general. Follow her as she experiences family, friendship, chaos, drama and possibly even romance. Join her as she tries to survive the life of a dragon slayer and mage accompanied by her dear companion, Sora. this is a re-write of a previous fic posted by myself a year or two ago
1. Chapter 1

The Town of Anemone was surrounded by dying embers as Mages retreated from the destruction. A young boy cried as he moved from his hiding place. The hole under the large tree was large enough to fit an entire family, but only the boy and the child clutched in his arms had made it there unseen.

"Mama! Papa!" the boy yelled as he searched through the smoke. He stopped and covered his eyes as a great burst of wind swept the ash and smoke away. When he opened his eyes, he was met by the ruins of his home. He was surrounded by the corpses of his family and friends. Moving through the derby and rubble that was once his home he let the tears fall. He could name everybody he saw. His cousins, his friends and teachers, the baker from three streets away, the police man who always gave him into trouble for running between the market stalls. The small bundle in his arms squirmed and the face of the baby girl was exposed to the world outside of her blankets. The boy took no notice and continued his search for his parents. He passed a clearing of ashes that had once been a park that he had visited every Wednesday with his friends from school. All around there where corpses. The boy moved the blankets to coving the smaller child's eyes again, not wanting her to see such horrific destruction.

"Mama, Papa. Please. We need you!" he cried, hoping that they would hear him. He stopped in front of a crumbled house. Under one of the support beams was a man and a woman both burned and bloodied.

"No. No this can't be," he whispered looking wide eyed at the two corpses. "MAMA! PAPA!" he cried kneeling over them in horror. "No, you can't be dead. We need you. Please don't go…Mama…Papa…" The small child in his arms started to cry. He sat there for hours crying as it rained.

When the rain stopped he stood up and started to walk.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. I swear," he mumbled to the girl in his arms. The boy walked, and walked, until he found another town. His clothes were tattered and the cloth around the small child had dried patches of blood on it. None of which belonged to the children. People started at him as he passed and others ushered their own children away from the boy. Some wondered what had happened to him. Others wondered where his parents where, but one person wondered if he was alright.

He was approached by a lady who could be no older than 20 herself. She smiled at the boy and led him to a small cottage on the edge of the town. She gave him new cloths and a warm bath. She also cleaned and repaired the baby girl's clothes, and bathed and fed them both.

"Thank you," the boy mumbled nibbling on the bread he was given. The lady smiled at him before her expression saddened and she looked out of her window.

"You can't stay" she sated before handing them a small satchel of food and led them to the edge of a forest.

"You must head further way from here. If possible go to magnolia. There is a guild there. A very nice guild known as Fairy tail, tell the master there what happened to you, tell him you wish to speak to Enno. You must tell her that Paisley sent you. She will keep you safe. Now you must leave," she said before she ran back to the village leaving them alone once again.

The boy did as he was told. He headed further away from his home. His life. And with his he carried his small satchel and the small baby girl. When nightfall arrived, he took refuge in a large cave for the night. He ate a small piece of bread and pulled out a small bottle of milk for the baby. She drank it willingly before falling asleep.

The boy kept watch that night and made sure the girl was safe. "I promise to protect you" he mumbled whenever the small child cried as he rocked her back to sleep.

Two years past and the boy and girl had managed to settle down in a small town in central Fiori, close to the Capital, but still a good days walk. The boy often took on jobs for people around the village to earn money to sustain himself and the little girl. The girl was very smart for her age and loved to read, she would read her books over, and over again. She only had 3 books but she didn't mind.

In the two years that had passed they had met many people, from the young lady in the first town to mages from guilds. They never did get to see magnolia, and the boy soon forgot about fairy tail as well. The girl wondered where her mama and papa were but she never asked.

They were happy. Even if they didn't have a mama or papa, they still had each other. But their happiness could not last.

On January 1st, X766, the small village was attacked by a dark scaled dragon.

"We need to go" the boy yelled to the girl he had come to know as his little sister. She was crying.

"But this is home" the girl replied as they ran. She was scared for her brother and herself. The kept running and made it out of the village in time to see it go up in flames. The girl cried silently in shock. The boy was down hearted, it was happening again. They were losing everything again.

The dragon spotted them and attacked. The boy grabbed the girl and ran. All he wanted to do was protect her. She was all he had left in the world and he wouldn't let a dragon of all things steal that away from him. They hid in a cave. The boy was shaking but the girl was curious. She wanted answers and she wanted them from the dragon.

Before the boy could stop her, she ran out of the cave to find it.

"Why?!" she exclaimed drawing the dragon's eyes to her after she had found it. "Why do that," she cried, letting the tears role down her cheeks. The dragon growled at the girl, and leaned down to bit her in half, but she did something that shocked the mighty dragon.

"People are bad I know but..." she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence because of her tears. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees before begging the dragon.

"I don't care what happens to me but don't hurt my Onii-san" she cried. She kept pleading the dragon on her hands and knees. She was injured but not severely. "He's all I got left," She mumbled. Her tears fell harder when she remembered all he had done for her. In her eyes, he was a saint.

"Name," the dragon growled at the girl. She shot up in shock. Before she bit her lip.

"Well I... don't know it," she mumbled. The dragon looked her over before grabbing her with its tale and taking off into the sky.

"Rekai shall be your name," the dragon stated as they got further and further away from the cave the boy was resting in. "And your brother will be fine on his own." and with that they left the area all together. They soon came across a mountainous region where the dragon landed and set down Rekai.

"I will train you to become strong so you may be able protect your dear people," the dragon stated looking at the girl with a softer expression than before. 'She is different from other humans she is still pure hearted' the dragon thought.

"What's your name?" Rekai asked as she adjusted herself so she sat on her knees in front of the majestic beast in front of her.

"I am Amari, a shadow dragon and from this day forward I shall be what you humans call Mother," the dragon stated leading Rekai to a cave. The little girl nodded and smiled at the large reptile before her.

"Ok then Mama!" she chirped before latching onto one of her Dragon mothers legs in a hug. She had never had a mother before.


	2. Chapter 2

As the years passed Rekai grew in both strength and wisdom. She was taught the art of dragon slayer magic, and she learnt about everything she could, from why the sky was blue to why the stars shown so bright in the night sky. She stayed in the mountain range with her mother and her Mothers Mate, Arcnologia. Both Dragons guarded her from the outside world and the outside world from her existence.

Each year on January 1st Amari would give Rekai a new book to read, but on Rekai's 7th birthday, as Amari had dubbed the day, she was given a small hand-sewn red stuffed rabbit. Rekai had been ecstatic and had made a promise to never let it leave her side. Rekai loved the mountains and her family. It was quiet and it was filled with so many beautiful things. The flowers were always so bright and colourful in the spring and summer months. Her favourite was a plant that had many small white flowers that bloomed in bunches of long stems and small leaves. Amari had called them Queen Anne's Lace. Arc had told her that the humans said that the flowers stood for sanctuary.

The Dragons watched as the small girl grew from the small girl in the woods begging Amari not to hurt her brother, to an intelligent young lady. At one-point Arcnologia had brought her jewelry and she had pierced her own ears so that she could wear the pretty stones in them. Amari had almost filleted the Dragon of the apocalypse for encouraging her to do it. They were happy together and Rekai was content to stay in the mountains with them forever.

Her home was large and beautiful and her family was more than she could ever ask for. They would never leave her. She couldn't think of any reason for them to leave her alone like the other humans had all those years ago. Arcnologia had said that she was alone when she was found. To leave someone so small all alone in a dangerous place made her resent others. But she had one photo that prevented her hatred from taking over and consuming her.

It was a photo of a young boy, maybe seven or eight years old. He stood beside her, only small. Smaller than when Amari had found her. She didn't know his name, or if he was just some person she had met once and then never seen again. She didn't care. He connected her to her past. He might be family. She had hidden the photo from Arcnologia. Amari had never spoken about how she had found her, but Rekai doubted that she had been alone for that long before that. She loved her family, but she yearned to know who the blond boy was to her. She yearned to know who she was. But most of all she wanted to know her name. Amari had named her Rekai when they had met but surly she had a name before that. She must have. People were named when they were born and she had been old enough when Amari found her that she could walk and talk. Arcnologia had placed her at about two or three years of age when she arrived, so they had gone off that for her age.

When she turned thirteen, Arcnologia had left their quiet mountain range and hadn't returned. Amari had wept for weeks, waiting for the other dragon to return, but he never did. After a few months, on July 6th, Amari gave Rekai a gift. She never got gifts before or after her birthday before. She had held the small package carefully in her hands and opened it with such care, that Amari would have thought it was glass if she hadn't been the one to give the one to gift it to the small girl. Inside the box had been a shining set of small purple earrings in the shapes of tear drops. Rekai had turned the gifts in her hand and felt the familiar texture of her mother's scales. Tears welled in her eyes and she looked at her mother. She had never been given anything so precious before. She had quietly replaced the black studded earrings that she had worn for years with the new ones before she latched onto her mother in thanks.

The two sat in silence until Rekai plucked up the courage to ask what she had wanted to ask her mother for years. Arcnologia had always told her not to ask but he had abandoned her and she couldn't help but let her curiosity take hold.

"Mama I was wondering. You always told me about how dragons only get one mate. Will I have one?" Rekai asked looking up at her mama with curiosity blazing in her eyes. Amari laughed and laydown by her daughter.

"Yes, my dear. I believe that you will. He will be handsome – after all my daughter deserves the best – and brave. So brave that he would do anything to protect you and yours. Do you remember when Arcnologia spoke to you about where Baby dragons come from?" the dragon asked expectantly. Rekai nodded and waited for her mother to continue. Amari smiled indulgently at her little girl. "I believe that the same would apply to your own mate. Of course, humans have their own ways of making little ones so some things may be different. But I am certain that you will find the perfect mate one day. And when you do child, treasure him. Treasure him like he would disappear at any moment and never let him go. Be patient and you will find him when the time is right my child." Amari smiled at Rekai as she processed the information before shooing Rekai away with the task of bringing her one of the girl's beautiful flower crowns.

That night was the last Rekai ever saw of her mother. She had searched the mountain range for weeks before she finally left. She had never been down from the mountains – at least she couldn't remember ever being away from the mountains. She walked for hours before she found a place with more of her own kind and large structures. She had been drawn there by the noise but it over whelmed her and she fled from the settlement as quickly as she could. She had retreated back to her sanctuary. Her quiet mountains. She had cried into the silence before she strengthened her resolve. She would travel the country and avoid the settlements when she could. Surely, she would find her mother or Arc eventually.

She searched far and wide for almost an entire year but she never found any trace of her precious family no matter where she went.

She had eventually ventured back into the settlements and adjusted to the noise. She met so many people and asked if they had seen Arc or Amari. People had given her strange looks until she stumbled upon a woman who had pointed her in the direction of the Fairy Tail guild, where another person, a boy, was also searching for a dragon. Rekai had latched onto that information and had made it her goal to find the other slayer. She would find her mother and Arc, if it was the last thing she ever did. She swore on her life that she would never stop looking, ever.


	3. Chapter 3

_March 13_ _th_ _, X778_

I walked through another town on my search for Amari. It had been over a year since she disappeared from our peaceful home. Now I've ended up in the town of magnolia. I heard from someone that there was another dragon slayer here. If I can just meet them and find out about their dragon then maybe, just maybe, I'll be closer to finding my Mother, or even Arc.

I came across a large building that was known as a 'guild.' It's where mages found work and made friends and became family. I stopped in front of the large doors and took a deep breath, gave my red rabbit a tight squeeze and opened the doors. I looked inside and saw people laughing and cheering and some kids who looked a few years younger than me in a scuffle.

I slowly walked in and looked around to see if I could pin point the other slayer that I was told was here. The further in I walked the more attention I gained. I looked back at the two boys who were fighting and looked at the small photo I had acquired of the other dragon slayer. Pink hair, dark eyes and white check scarf. I watched the two scuffled, and looked back at the picture. It was him, it had to be.

I slowly made my way over to him and tapped his shoulder before backing up slightly to give him space, knowing that dragons liked their own space. It seemed appropriate to assume that Dragon slayers did to. I know I did.

"Excuse me. Are you Natsu Dragneel, the dragon slayer?" I asked quietly taking a few more steps back when he turned around. He laughed and turned back to the boy he had been fighting.

"See that Ice breath, some people can recognise talent when they see it!" he yelled pointing to me, drawing even more attention to me. The pink haired boy grinned and pointed to himself with confidence that I could never match.

"Yeah, I'm a fire dragon slayer, Natsu Dragneel. And who are you?" he asked looking at me strangely. His mouth was open showing his teeth and the corners where tilted upwards. His eyes where closed and his head was slightly tilted to the side.

"I'm Rekai I'm looking for someone and I thought that you might know what happened to them, maybe even point me in the right direction at least," I mumbled looking at my feet. If he rejected me and didn't want to help I was back to square one.

"Who are you looking for and why do you need Natsu's help? There are plenty of other mages here," a girl with white hair snapped. She was dressed in dark clothes, if you could even call them clothes. They hardly covered anything. How disgusting.

"I'm looking for a dragon and I thought if I could find out what happened to some other dragons I might be closer to finding her," I mumbled moving slightly away from her, she was scary. The boy who was in his underwear looked at me funny then to the other dragon slayer then back to me.

"My dragon, Igneel, disappeared on the 7th of July last year," Natsu stated sadly but he smiled. I looked away down heartedly. So, it wasn't just Amari then. It was Igneel too.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time," I mumbled before heading for the door. But I was stopped by the pink haired boy placed a hand on my shoulder which scared me a little and made me jump. I wasn't used to being touched by other people. I wasn't used to being around other people or talking to them either. It was strange.

"Hey, I got an Idea. Why don't you stay and we can look for our Dragons together?" he suggested. I blinked before nodding and taking his offer. Two minds are better than one, right? I decided I should tell him who I was.

"I'm Rekai, by the way. I'm the shadow dragon Slayer," I said, giving him a small smile. He looked shocked and fell over. Why did he fall? Was it something I said.

"Are you alright?" I asked, offering a hand to the boy. He was smaller than I was, he was just little. Or littler than me at least. Natsu blinked and looked oddly at my hand before a grin split across his face and he grasped it with enthusiasm.

"Thanks, Rekai! I can't wait to work with you." I grinned at the smaller dragon slayer and laughed with him. Everyone else had gone quiet before someone shouted.

"Hell, yeah now we have two dragon slayers, hear that Wakaba break out the booze, it's party time!" I watched as a man with a smoking thing hanging from his mouth grabbed a tanker and downed whatever was inside it. The noise rose and I covered my ears to try and keep out the noise. It was too loud. I quietly snuck away and climbed the stairs to hid where it was quieter. The second floor was almost empty, with only one person there. A small man stood by the bits of wood the blocked the way towards the bottom floor. I watched as he smiled before he turned to look at me. I thought he would be mad that I climbed the stairs and ran away from the people but he just smiled at me.

"Welcome to fairy tail my child," he stated. I blinked before asking him what he meant. "Well aren't you staying child?" he asked.

"I want to help Natsu, but the loud noises… They hurt, Sir," I mumbled. The noise only got worse and I covered my ears and closed by eyes to try and bloke it out. I shook as the noise only got worse. How could Natsu stand it. It was horrible. It was suffocating. Tears started to fall from my eyes and I wished I was back on my mountain. My mountain was quiet. It was home. It was my sanctuary. I froze when I felt my hands being pried from my ears, only to be replaced by something that created the sounds of a river flowing over rapids and birds chirping in the distance. I opened my eyes to see the small man and a boy with blond hair in front of me. The boy was bigger than me and he had a scar that crossed over his eye.

"What is this?" I asked feeling the things covering my ears. I couldn't hear myself talk over the sounds. It was odd. The small man smiled and motioned to the blond boy.

"My grandson, Laxus, has lent you his sound pods. They play music and block external sounds," the man explained as Laxus shrugged and patted my head. I gave him a strained smile and a weak thank you before the small man asked if I wanted to join the guild. I looked around and went through what I knew of the guild. It was well known, strong, known for its strong bonds and strange mages. It was a home. I nodded with what little confidence I had and the small man grinned before retrieving the guild stamp.

"Where do you want it kid?" Laxus asked. I glanced to him and thought hard. I had saw people with the mark on their arms or torsos but none of them seemed to go any further than the top of their arms. I nodded my head in confirmation before holding out my arm and moving my sleeve up to expose my wrist.

"Here," I said before the stamp was pressed into my wrist leaving behind the guild emblem. It was purple like Amari's scales but if you looked closely there were flecks of black and dark blue there as well. The small man smiled and Laxus offered me a hand to help me stand. I thanked him as the small man jumped onto the banister and silenced the others.

"CHILDREN!" he yelled. His voice was full of power and demanded attention. When he knew he had everyone's attention, he continued. "Our new member had sensitive hearing and your noise is causing her pain, so shut your traps and be nice." With that he jumped down and offered me a smile. I offered one in return and took off the sound pods and gave them back to Laxus before I went over to introduce myself to some of the other children who were there. There was maybe ten of them. They looked happy just playing and talking with each other. I sat slightly away from them and took out my book. It was something that Mother had given me for my fifth birthday. It was called 'the shadow tales' it was a lot of old legends and mysteries about shadows. My favourite one was the kingdom of shadows, it had dangerous far off quests, daring sword fights and a prince in a castle.

"Hey wanna go on a mission with me?" the pink haired slayer asked out of the blue. He was stood beside me and had the same silly grin on his face. I'd never been on a mission before, in fact I didn't even know what a mission was. I blinked at him before accepting his offer, whatever it was I might be fun. It could even help me in my quest to find mother and Arc.


	4. Chapter 4

As the next year passed I learned a lot from the guild. I made friends and I was accepted for who I was. A shy and socially awkward person with an aversion to loud noises. I had become a bit of a book worm since meeting one of my closest friend, Levy McGardener. She enjoyed books as much as I enjoyed silence, and used Solid script magic, which can make anything. It was cooler than most people gave her credit for.

It was weird to begin with, living in Fairy hills. There was always sounds. It was never quiet to the point of being able to hear her tinkling of the bird's chirps. There was always someone moving or breathing loudly, and every now and then there would be someone trying to procreate. On those occasions I would run to the guild and hide behind the bar. Laxus thought it was hilarious. Of course, he did. Half of the time it was his fault I had to hide in the guild from the inappropriate activities! Natsu was nice enough for a little guy, he was eleven years old and a little spit fire. He had helped me settle in and he showed me how to work and how to interact with the rest of the guild. After the first few weeks Natsu started to leave me to my own devices and I was taken under Laxus's wing.

He was calmer than the rest of the guild and he had a scar across his face. I was curious about how he got it, but I didn't want to ask. I had once asked Arc where one of his scars came from and he got upset and angry. I suppose that scars are private matters. He was nice enough to me, and he lent me his sound pods whenever things got to much for me to handle on my own. But we didn't do missions together. Laxus worked alone. Or he did until about two months after I joined, when he brought a green haired boy to the guild. He looked different from everyone else in the guild. More regal. And he spoke with a weird accent.

"Laxus, why does Justine talk so weird?" I asked one day when the green haired kid was at the bar. I had decided that he was my rival. He had thought it was a good idea to get his guild mark on his hand, which was lower down than mine was. I was a declaration that he thought he was smarter than I was. I know it was. I watched Laxus huff and stretch in his seat.

"That's just how he talks small fry. He probably thinks you talk funny. Seeing as you can't pronounce words like anemone right. And his name is Freed not Justine," Laxus replied as Freed started to head back over.

"Well he introduced himself as Justine. Freeze Justine. Free… Free… shut up!"

3rd person POV

Laxus barked with laughter as the younger mage failed to pronounce the ruin mages first name. "Its not funny," she insisted. Freed watched the two from a table over in confusion. He didn't understand why the brunette didn't like him. He hadn't done anything to her, so he didn't understand why she was always glaring at him and calling him by his last name, and she was really quiet too. Most of the guild were quiet around her. It was confusing, but he went along with it, lowering his voice when he was near her. He couldn't help but feel that there was always someone in the guild listening to every word he said, and not in a good way.

"Laxus-Sama? Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked softly. Laxus snorted at glanced to the angry looking brunette, as if telling her to answer him. She only glared at the blond, and then at Freed, before she shadowed away to the other side of the guild, muttering about stupid blonds and weird talking weirdos. Freed looked from the now empty seat to Laxus in confusion.

"She doesn't like you. Don't ask because I don't know why. She thinks you talk strangely because she's never met anyone from the east before now, at least not anyone who ever talked to her. She also can't pronounce Freed right. It's hilarious watching her struggle to say it. That's why she calls you by yours last name. She ain't much used to people. Only been here about two months and didn't stay anywhere too long before that. She'll come around eventually," The lightning mage explained. Freed frowned.

"So, she thinks I am weird? She is rather odd herself. And why is everyone so quiet when she is around? I've seen the guild much louder and rowdier than this before when she wasn't here." Laxus sighed as he watched the little dragon slayer leave the guild with a stubborn look set on her face.

"Because she just heard everything you just said."

Freed froze and watched as the noise in the guild sky rocketed.

"She got real sensitive hearing, hears just about everything within a mile radius at least. We figure the quieter we talk the more likely she is to just drown it out or focus on the noise of the town. And you just pointed it out to her that we act different when she's around. You'll have to apologise for that. Dragon slayers can really hold a grudge," Laxus mused. He may have liked Freed and he may be the little ruin mages team mate, but Rekai was alone most of the time and he wasn't letting her be driven off just because of something like sensitive hearing.

"Oh, I didn't know. And why didn't she stick around anywhere long before Fairy Tail? She's just a kid," Freed pointed out. He didn't understand how a little kid could be left on their own like that. Left to wander. Sure, he had been alone for a while but that was his choice. He left so he could be a mage. But he tended to stay close to home until Laxus had brought him to Fairy Tail. It didn't make sense to keep moving and never stay in one place too long. Laxus only shrugged and kicked his feet up one to the table.

"That's her story. Ask her after you fix things up with her." Freed scowled at the thought. Sure, he had pointed out that the guild acted differently with her, but so what. It wasn't his fault. No one bothered to tell him, so how could he have known. He had nothing to apologise for. Nothing at all.

While Freed was convincing himself that he did nothing wrong, Rekai was wondering around the city, trying to figure out what all of the different smells were. She hadn't don it before, although she as meaning to. She kept catching a delicious smell near one of the cross roads of the city. She knew where it was but there was a weird glare on the signs in the city and she couldn't read them properly. She just knew that the smell was sweet, like berries were, but it wasn't fruity. It was odd. And she wanted to find it.

Eventually she found that the smell was coming from one of the shops on the corner. She was hesitant to go inside, but she wanted to know what the smell was. She pushed the door open and heard a bell. It was loud. The door creaked, and her little shoes squeaked against the clean wooden floors. The smell was over whelming, it was sweet, so unearthly sweet. What was it?

It was welcoming inside the shop. It was filled with earthy colours and yellow. Sun yellow decorated the details on the walls and shelves.

"Hello there. How can I help you?" the man behind the counter had noticed the little bell chime when she arrived. "Are your parents around? Are you lost?" Rekai looked at the men behind the counter. His hair and eyes were dark like hers were. He seemed older, maybe Macau's age perhaps. "Do you need me to call someone?"

"No, sir… I'm from Fairy Tail," she mumbled back. It sounded loud to her but the man behind the counter barely caught what she said.

"Fairy Tail you say?" Rekai nodded and the man nodded as well. "Are you here for some Chocolate then?" Rekai tilted her head at the foreign word.

"What's Chalk-let?" the man behind the counter looked stumped at her question. Had she said it wrong?

"You don't… well… it's a treat made from Coco. Would you like to try some?" Rekai hesitated.

"If it safe?" Her mother had always taught her what was safe to eat and what wasn't, but she never mentioned something called Coco.

"Of course, it is," He said, placing a small square of the chocolate on the counter and stepping back a little bit. He didn't want to scare her. Rekai looked at the new thing and hesitantly picked it up. She looked to the man before she took a small bite out of it. The flavour hit her like a train. She had never tasted anything like it before. She couldn't put it into words, but she knew she liked it.

"Its good. I like it," Rekai chimed. She smiled up at the older man and decided that she had just found her favourite place in Magnolia.

"My name is Jaques by the way. What's yours?"

"My name is Rekai."


End file.
